San Diegans cheer California’s support for president; party faithful see positive signs for the next four years

The first time felt like history. Tuesday felt more like redemption. And relief.

That’s what President Barack Obama’s supporters in San Diego said, reveling in his hard-fought re-election. Four more years.

“We did it, girlfriend!” Judy Ki, a retired science teacher and Democratic activist from Poway, called out to a colleague at the Westin Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter, where the party faithful gathered for their postelection party.

Hundreds of people celebrated in a ballroom there and basked in the blue glow of TV screens showing election returns marching across the country from East to West.

Those returns made California, that noted trendsetter, something of a follower for much of the evening — following the electoral trends in other places, all those ballots being tallied elsewhere while the polls here were still open.

There were celebratory shouts when the first major battleground state was decided — Pennsylvania, for Obama. There was cautious optimism when he took leads in Ohio and Florida, and then jangling nerves as Republican challenger Mitt Romney narrowed the gap.

And then, euphoria. The television networks began calling the race for the president at about 8:20 p.m., and at the Westin, a band called Liquid Blue played “It’s Gonna Be a Good Night.”

“The president’s re-election will move the country forward in improving the economy and providing better access to health care, both important issues to San Diego,” said Jess Durfee, chair of the local Democratic Party.

He also said California’s continued strong support for the president, and its delivery of 55 electoral votes, the most of any state, should help local legislators find a receptive ear in the White House.

“We’re a blue state with a Democrat in the White House,” he said. “That’s good for San Diego, for having our interests represented.”

Stephen Walters, CEO of a local technology firm, said he thought Obama won in part because “he touched a nerve with voters. People understood that he’s real, he’s consistent, and he spoke to the needs of the average person.”

Walters is African-American, and he said he thinks it was important to have a president re-elected who better understands the plight of minorities. But he also said he thinks Obama “has the capacity to bring people together. This is a person who wants to take care of the middle class.”

Because the results in California were never in doubt — neither candidate actively campaigned here — Obama’s most dedicated supporters spent the weeks leading up to the election in battleground states, either via phone banks or in person.

Ki, for example, was in Nevada, registering voters and encouraging them to mail in their ballots early. “I slaved through triple-digit weather in Nevada for three weekends,” she said. “It’s all worth it.”

Tim O’Donoghue, a Navy veteran and landscape designer from North Park, said he was moved by the tight race to get involved in an election for the first time in his life at age 70. He worked phone banks for the Obama campaign.